Flies seem to be everywhere this time of year. Some people prefer to use homemade fly traps. What if you want to simply repel flies instead of trapping them after they’ve already become a nuisance?
I was out at a local farm just yesterday and the flies were very noticeable and quite annoying as I went about my work. Seeing all those flies reminded me of a simple, non-toxic, and very effective fly repellent that I observed in action at one of my children’s field trips a couple of months ago.
The class was visiting a petting farm with a large open barn where donkeys, horses, goats, and other livestock were available for the children to observe and interact with.
Despite so many animals in a small semi-enclosed area, there were no flies buzzing around! Curious, I asked the owner about this, and he pointed to the heavy-duty plastic bags partially filled with water hanging over every stall.
He explained that a clear bag of water with a penny at the bottom would repel the flies very effectively. He went on to explain that the “eye” of a fly is actually hundreds of eyes and the reflection of light on the bag of water keeps them away.
“Why the penny at the bottom of the bag?”, I asked.
Grandpa the farmer answered that he wasn’t exactly sure but the penny did seem to increase the effectiveness of the hanging bag of water alone. He added that he didn’t know how many square feet each bag covered so he just put a bag over every animal stall to keep as many flies away as possible.
He also had put up a few bags over the picnic area and it was so nice to be able to eat lunch without flies swarming everywhere!
Note that the clearer the water, the more effective this trick is. If you use rusty well water, it won’t work as effectively as ultra clean and clear filtered water.
Try this fly repellant method for yourself! If you do, please check back and let us know how it worked for you!
Fly Repellent Only Works for Flies
Please note that this fly repellent trick only works for flies, not mosquitoes, and other insects. It also works very well for flies in the Southern United States. However, it may not work as well for flies from other geographical areas such as blowflies in Australia.
If you need to repel other insects like mosquitoes, ticks, or horse flies, this article on natural herbal insect repellent can help.
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i would like to try this. I had a question tho. Does sunlight/light have to be shinning into the bag?
May be a silly question but how do you hang the bag without it sagging and ripping?
Someone told my husband to hang 2 liter plastic soda bottles with water in them to keep the flies away. We have a pin full of pigs. He says it is working out there. Who knew!
Any advices on how to keep spiders out of the house? Especially the big hunting ones?
How cool! I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this before. Very neat.
Would this work by hanging a mason jar filled with water and penny? Would be easier to hang with a wire than the plastic bag.
I’ve seen this at the back doors of many restaurants and grocery stores in Houston and Dallas Texas. Going to try it in my yard tomorrow as we’ve got a fly problem suddenly!
From reading, it seems that maybe the bags have to be in a sunny area so the sun will reflect on the water. Those who said it didn’t work, did you hang them where there is a lot of shade?
Whats the best way to hang the bags?